NEW DELHI: Expressing his concern over the gradual disappearance of the Urdu language from the common tongue, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena on Thursday appealed to the people to use Urdu more as a part of their daily conversations.
Saxena, while addressing the students and faculty of Jamia Hamdard University at its 14th convocation ceremony, said Urdu encapsulates the historical heritage of the country and represents diversity, the Ganga-Jamuna three of the nation.
“In admiration of Urdu, it would be enough to say that this language, blessed with delicacy, elegance, etiquette and manners, is our historical heritage. Like our other languages, Urdu is also our own. Like Hindi, Bengali, Odia, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and various other languages, it (Urdu) was born, flourished and came into existence only in our country,” Saxena said.
The L-G also said that people do not need foreign languages to express themselves and should embrace the Indian language more and more. “The continuous decline in the customs and traditions of Urdu continues to bother me. My values, strengthened in the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, are only and only Hindustani – they are as much Urdu as they are Hindi, and as much Brajbhashi or Awadhi. I believe that our Indian languages are enough to give voice to our community, and we should not need foreign languages,” the L-G started during his ceremonial address.
An official language under the Constitution
Urdu is one of the official languages under the Constitution of India. It is among the 15 Indian languages engraved on the Indian currency notes. Urdu is an official language in states like Kashmir, Telangana, UP, Bihar, New Delhi and West Bengal. Besides, all the old records in the revenue department in the state of Punjab are available in only Urdu.